


you saw beyond all the blonde to my mind

by bilgegungoren00



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Legally Blonde AU, Mentions of Sexual Assault, but it's just inspired by it, it's not exactly legally blonde though, kara as elle, legally blonde musical, mon-el as emmett, non-descriptive sexual assault, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 13:03:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13147281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bilgegungoren00/pseuds/bilgegungoren00
Summary: When her boyfriend James broke up with her, claiming that she wasn't "serious" enough, Kara Danvers is determined to show him that she can be serious and win him back. Enlisting the help of her co-worker, Mon-El, the blonde reporter chases a story that she believes could win James back. But she soon finds out, with the help of a certain friend, that not everything is black and white, and pink can be just as serious as black.Legally Blonde: The Musical AU





	you saw beyond all the blonde to my mind

**Author's Note:**

> sooooo I guess this is what happens when you act in a musical and you can't get the songs out of your mind...lol. seriously, though, ever since we've started practicing Legally Blonde in our school, i'd been wondering when i would end up writing an AU about it, and it seems like Christmas break was the time. it doesn't exactly follow the storyline of the musical (certainly not the movie, since i haven't watched it...lol) but there are certainly elements of it, and i hope you'll like it!
> 
> also, if you haven't yet, go watch Legally Blonde Musical. it is a total masterpiece, definitely worth your time, and Emmett and Elle are like one of the cutest couple in today's media. and there is a professionally filmed footage of it free on YouTube! trust me, you won't regret it.
> 
> also, if you're following me, don't be too shocked if i end up posting an Elle/Emmett fic. i'm just obsessed with them right now, and i hve a feeling soon enough i'll be writing a fanfic about them lol. just saying.
> 
> ALSO MOST IMPORTANTLY --- TRIGGER WARNING for mentions of sexual assault & a short non-descriptive sexual assault scene. it's nothing too graphic or intense or anything, but i just wanted to put it out there so that at least i can say i did my job. this is what happens when a one-shot that was supposed to be cute and sweet turns into a long and serious (HA! see what i did there?) story. sigh.
> 
> but anyway, i hope you like this!
> 
> p.s. seriously, though, go watch Legally Blonde Musical. just wanted to say that again.

 

Mon-El should’ve guessed this.

Really, he didn’t even know why he expected things to go differently. At the end, as Kara’s best friend, he was the one helping her earn back her boyfriend all this time. Kara Danvers, the person he thought was nothing more than a classic blonde at first, but who ended up being one of the deepest, nicest, strongest women he’d ever met. Kara, who had been trying to prove to her ex-boyfriend that he was “serious” to earn him back, but ended up discovering herself and her passion in the process. Kara, whom he only started helping because she seemed like she desperately needed a direction in life, but whom he’d easily—and madly—fallen in love with in the process.

There, he’d said it. He loved Kara Danvers. Even though right now she was probably in the arms of James Olsen, her ex, gushing about their life and future and numerous kids they’d be having— _at least three,_ Kara used to say. _The next generations need our genetic combination._

Mon-El sighed as he fiddled with the sleeve of his t-shirt. He should’ve been happy, he knew. Kara finally got everything she wanted: she landed that reporting job at CatCo, her article made the front-page, and James… James had asked her to get back together. _To think I didn’t take you seriously,_ Mon-El had heard the man say right before he scurried out of Kara’s small celebratory party. _I was wrong. We do belong together._

Mon-El dropped his head onto his hand, pinching his nose to get rid of the memory. Really, he should’ve expected this. He should’ve known better than hoping…hoping Kara Danvers, an all-around amazing girl—both in looks and wits—would want to be with someone like… _him_. What could he give to her that she didn’t already have?

_Love,_ a little voice in his head said. _Acceptance. Trust. Pride. You could give her your heart._ But…was that really worth anything as long as Kara loved James? And she did love James, didn’t she? Mon-El saw her smile at the man at the party in a way that reminded him so much of how…he smiled at her. He’d truly believed, after everything, Kara would never get back together with James. Hadn’t she realized that letting her world revolve around James was exactly what held her back from becoming who she could be? James was an…asshole. He just wanted what he wanted and got what he wanted, without a care about anyone else. She should know that, right? She should know better than that?

But if she loved him… How could she say no to her heart? As if Mon-El had been able to say no to himself when he fell for her.

He opened his eyes to stare at his hands on his lap, not being able to stop himself from thinking how this all started. That fateful day he went to his friend’s house after hearing about her breakup…

* * *

_“Kara?” Mon-El knocked on the apartment door, tucking his hands into his pockets as he waited for an answer. Silence fell over the hall for a couple of seconds before he knocked again. “Hey, I know you’re in there,” he said softly. He knew not to be pushy with her after everything that happened. “I… I heard about your breakup. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”_

_This time, he could swear that he heard a grunt coming from inside, followed by the small pitter-patter of Kara’s feet. “Why isn’t_ anyone _leaving me alone?” the blonde yelled as she yanked the door open._

_Saying that she looked_ different _would be the understatement of the year. She and Mon-El might be friends, but first and foremost they were coworkers. And…well, coworkers didn’t tend to see each other outside of professional places, where everyone was dressed appropriately. He certainly hadn’t seen Kara before in a bathroom robe, with her hair all over her face, and no makeup on. Oh, and let’s not forget her red, puffy eyes. He lifted his brows, pressing his lips together to keep himself from smiling at her weirdly adorable look, especially as she fixed her harsh gaze on him. “What do you want?” she snapped, somehow managing to sound strong despite her appearance. Mon-El cleared his throat awkwardly._

_“You haven’t come to work the last three days. And since you’ve never gotten sick in the last three years for more than a day, I knew something was wrong.” He took a deep breath, his face melting into a sympathetic look. “I talked to your sister. She told me what happened.”_

_“And you decided just popping in here would make me feel better?” she retorted, pulling at her robe and walking to her couch. Mon-El could only follow her. “Because it doesn’t. Just FYI.” She looked at him over her shoulder with pursed lips and narrowed eyes, so much so that he couldn’t even feel hurt with those words. Kara had always had a cute, bubbly vibe about her, but seeing her like this, when she wasn’t in her A game… Somehow, it just made her more adorable. It made her more human, rather than a magazine princess._

_“I brought doughnuts,” he offered, lifting the package in her hand. That made Kara perk up. She straightened up on the couch, her eyes on the doughnut package. He could see that she was considering letting him stay, even if it was just for the doughnuts._

_“What flavor?” she asked with a thin voice. Mon-El smiled confidently as he perched on the couch, right next to her._

_“Chocolate-glazed, with those little colorful sprinkles on it that I know you like so much. I bought three of them…you know, just in case.”_

_For the first time since he entered Kara’s house, she looked at him with gratitude instead of anger. “Thank you,” she murmured as she took the doughnuts from him. “You’re perfect.”_

_Mon-El chuckled as he lightly patted her knee. “Well, I try. Hey, I’m gonna make us some coffee, okay? I’ll be right back.” Kara just nodded as he stood up, as her mouth was busy munching on the doughnut. Mon-El reached for her coffee machine, feeling glad that her coffee was right next to it so that he didn’t have to spend five minutes searching her kitchen for it. He was just pouring the water into the machine when Kara’s voice interrupted him._

_“You were worried about me?” He couldn’t help looking over his shoulder at her._

_“Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t like Kara Danvers to not come to work when there’s a huge celebrity scandal with that…that red-headed actress that I forgot the name of, but who is starring in literally anything right now.”_

_“You mean Fleur Tennison?”_

_“Yeah, her.” He leaned on the counter and flashed her a small smile as he waited for the coffees to be done. “Besides, the office wasn’t the same without you.”_

_“Well, thank you,” Kara tried to say, but because of her doughnut—was that her first or second?—it sounded more like an unintelligible grumble. Mon-El couldn’t help chuckling at her before he grabbed the coffees._

_“So…” He sat down next to her, leaning back on the couch to give her some space. She stared at him through the corner of her eyes, waiting for him to continue. “You wanna talk about what happened?”_

_“No,” was Kara’s muffled answer. “Not really. No.” He just arched his brow, waiting for her to continue. If he knew Kara at all, he knew that she’d spill the beans any time now—_

_“Fine! He told me I wasn’t_ serious _enough for him!” She almost threw the doughnut to the floor in her anger…until she realized what she was doing and stopped. Instead, she took a small bite from it. “He said, as the_ ‘potential CEO’ _of a big company, he very well couldn’t date a gossip magazine writer who cared about nothing other scandals and clothes and hair. Actually, he called me a paparazzi, but that was so offensive that I’m choosing to ignore it.” She furiously pulled at the sleeves of her robe before she continued. “He thinks I’m nothing but a shallow blonde, which, considering we’d been dating for about three years, is really hurtful.”_

_“You know that’s not true,” Mon-El argued with a shake of his head. God, that asshole. He always knew James wasn’t as perfect a person as Kara made out to be, but to tell_ that _to your three-year girlfriend…to anyone really…it was beyond rude. “Just because you write about celebrities doesn’t mean you’re less serious than someone writing about political issues.”_

_“Yeah, but apparently that’s what_ James _wants. Someone who wears dark blue suits and ties instead of pink dresses. Someone who writes about important, life-changing things instead of who Fleur Tennison started dating last week. Someone whom he could introduce to his friends and be proud of…” Her eyes shot up as her words trailed off. She had a glint in her eyes, the kind that she had when she had a brilliant idea, when she turned to Mon-El. “That’s it,” she whispered, as if she was trying to process her own thoughts. She put the doughnut aside—and even that said just how important this was. Mon-El braced himself for…anything, really. “That’s the kind of girl James wants. Someone serious, someone aware of social problems, someone who isn’t afraid to write about political issues. Someone who changes the world with her stories.”_

Oh, no. _Mon-El realized where this was going before Kara even said the words, yet he was too late to stop her. He was too late to show her just how ridiculous it was for her to change her whole life for a guy, especially someone like James, who didn’t deserve it._

_“Kara—“_

_“I just need to show him that I can be serious, too. I need to show him I care about political issues, and then he’ll see I’m exactly what he wants.”_

_“Kara, you’re perfect the way you are,” Mon-El tried to say, yet she didn’t even seem like she was listening to him. “You don’t need to change yourself just because some guy doesn’t like you.”_

_“This is James, Mon-El. This is different,” she insisted, reaching forward to hold his hand. “If I publish a serious story, like, the story of the year, he’ll have to see that I’m serious. He’ll see that we belong together.”_

_“He’s not worth it—“_

_“But I_ love _him.” Kara sounded so desperate that he didn’t even know what to say to her. “And… And you have to know that love is eternal. It doesn’t accept defeat: it can overcome every challenge. And I’m not saying this as a naïve blonde whose world revolves around a guy. I just think… All of us should listen to our hearts every now and then, right?” She searched his face before she continued. “Please don’t dismiss me, Mon-El. I’ll need your help with this. I’ll need my friend.”_

_Mon-El opened his mouth to refuse—but he stopped. Because if Kara wanted this… How could he say no? She was an adult, after all._

_“Are you sure about this?” he still couldn’t help asking. She vehemently nodded._

_“Yes. Absolutely, one hundred percent sure.” She gripped his hand tightly and pursed her lips, as if she was trying to make herself seem as adorable as possible…not that it didn’t work. Mon-El found himself sighing, even as a part of him regretted his decision._

_“Fine. Okay. I’ll help you.”_

_“Yes!” Kara squealed, jumping on the couch to wrap her arms around him. Mon-El couldn’t help laughing at her excitement. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re amazing. Have I ever told you that you were amazing? Well, you_ are.”

_“Easy there, tiger,” Mon-El chuckled, pulling back to look at her eyes. “You can thank me once we get you and James back together.” Kara rolled her eyes at him, yet still, even his joke didn’t spoil her mood. Especially when he continued with his next line. “Let’s show him just how stupid he was to break up with you.”_

* * *

He had no idea just how _right_ he’d been when he said those words that day. It was so stupid of James to not see just how incredible Kara was—and he would’ve still thought that if Kara hadn’t been working in CatCo now, but was still writing for _Celebrity Weekly._ It was not her job or her appearance that made her amazing; it was her personality, that bright light she had inside her that could brighten anyone’s world. It definitely brightened _his_ world.

He sighed as he pushed himself off of the couch. No. He refused to wallow all day because of a girl…even if that girl was as special as Kara. Hadn’t he told Kara, multiple times, that she shouldn’t put her life on hold for a guy? And wouldn’t it be hypocritical if he did the exact same thing?

_But it’s Kara,_ his brain thought, even as he went to his kitchen to get some refreshing tea. _Kara is different. She isn’t someone you can just forget. She is…everything._

And she was with James.

He wanted to face-palm himself. Really, how had he gotten here, where _he_ was the one pining over someone, when he’d been advising Kara to stop thinking about James and live her life all this time?

* * *

_“How about this one?” Kara asked as she lifted her head from the newspaper she was reading. “It says that there’d been shortages of food in—Mon-El, is that your third can of Redbull?” Mon-El stopped popping the can open as he looked up at Kara from where he was perched up on the desk in the break room._

_“Maybe?” he said slowly._ “Maybe. _But we’ve been going through these newspapers for the last two hours, and those Redbulls are the only thing keeping me awake right now. Besides, I have_ you _to blame for my addiction.” He crossed his arms. “You introduced me to them.”_

_“Touché,” Kara murmured as she pushed the newspaper in front of him. “Anyway, food shortages? What do you think? Is that serious enough?” She was looking at him hopefully, waiting for an affirmative answer…but all Mon-El could do was to purse his lips. He shook his head._

_“It’s definitely serious, but…it’s not news, Kara. This article is from a week ago, and that photo? I’d taken it. Everybody knows about this. I don’t even know if it would be published.” Kara’s shoulders slumped visibly after his words. He rushed forward before she got too hopeless. “But we’ll keep looking. This isn’t the end of the world.”_

_“Isn’t it?” She buried her face in her palms. “It’s been three weeks, Mon-El, and we can’t even come up with a decent story to write. The only articles I’ve published were about Fleur Tennison’s new boyfriend or whether Gregory Colton was gay. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound so serious to me.”_

_“There’s nothing wrong about that, Kara,” Mon-El argued softly, grabbing her wrists and pulling them away from her face. “We need people like you in this world, too. People who aren’t serious, who could make you smile just by their presence, who radiate happiness everywhere they go. Just because James wants someone more serious doesn’t mean that’s the right way.”_

_“But then how am I going to win him back?” Kara looked almost too desperate as she stared at him. Mon-El sighed exasperatedly._

_“Not everything is about James—“ he tried to say, wanting to take the blond out of the destructive James train she’d hopped onto, when they were interrupted by the man himself. “Speak of the devil” had never fit a situation more than it fit this._

_“Hey, Kara.” Kara stood up so quickly that her chair almost fell on the floor…if Mon-El didn’t catch it._

_“James!” she shrieked, desperately trying to straighten up her hair and clothes. “Hey!”_

_“Hey.” James’s smile looked too fake to be real as he looked over at Mon-El, yet Kara didn’t even seem to notice that. Mon-El’s heart went out to the blonde. “I was wondering whether you’d seen Lucy? We were supposed to go to a gala, but I can’t find her.”_

_Mon-El grimaced when he heard James’s new girlfriend’s name. Honestly, it was already bad that he broke up with Kara after dating with her for three years, but starting to date someone else three weeks after that breakup… Sometimes, he just wanted to punch James in the face. Worried, he looked at Kara. She usually always flinched at the mere mention of Lucy, and with James barging in the break room with her name on his lips—_

_But nope, Kara was just smiling, probably not even aware of the situation. Mon-El didn’t even think she heard what James said as she leaned over the table. “Yeah…” she murmured, causing James to arch his brow._

_“Well?” he pressed on. “Where is she?” Now_ that _seemed to bring Kara back to reality. She straightened up, something like pain crossing her eyes. Mon-El felt his chest squeeze. He cursed at James for making such a beautiful woman doubt herself, feeling like she wasn’t enough. He wanted to tell her that she was, she was more than enough the way she was, but… She doubted Kara would listen those words if they didn’t come from James._

_“I mean… I mean, no. I don’t know where she is.”_

_James huffed and rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed at the little time he’s lost. “Great. We’re gonna be late,” he was muttering as he walked out, and Kara… Kara could do nothing but watch him. She barely felt Mon-El touching her arm, even._

_“Um, Kara?” he started, leaning forward to look at her face. Her eyes were cloudy even as she turned to him. “Are you okay?”_

_She seemed more confused than ever with that question. Mon-El sighed exasperatedly. “You know, maybe if you stopped worrying about what James thinks about you, you might actually get what you wanted.”_

_“What?” Kara furrowed her brows at him. Mon-El knew that his words came out a bit sharper than he intended. He schooled his features into a soft expression before leaning forward to put his hand on her arm._

_“I’m just trying to say that…that you’re an amazing girl, Kara. But you’re worrying so much about what James thinks about you that you don’t realize that. If you focused on yourself instead of him, I’m sure you can come up with a great article topic.” He searched Kara’s eyes to see if she understood. She looked thoughtful, at least, instead of completely dismissing his words. Yet she didn’t seem like she could come up with an answer now._

_“I’ll just go back to work,” Mon-El said, wanting to give her some time to think. “Call me if you need anything.”_

_The last thing he saw, before he left the room, was Kara pushing away the newspaper she’d just been reading._

* * *

“Famous Hollywood director Domenic Rayne was arrested for sexual misconduct after witnesses came forward. Yesterday, when a blogger released an article detailing the abuse…” Mon-El took a sip from his coffee as he watched the news, something like a mixture of pride and pain flickering in his stomach. Kara had done it. She’d found a news that not only was serious, but she also cared about; she followed it, even putting herself in line to get to the bottom of it, and…she released an article that changed the lives of numerous girls. If this didn’t prove that she could be serious…he didn’t know what would.

But that wasn’t why Mon-El was so proud of her. He was proud, because she’d done all of that without changing or compromising who she was. There was a time he’d started thinking she’d fundamentally change while trying to impress James. She was so focused on getting it right and being serious that she almost lost herself. _Almost,_ before she realized that what made her amazing was who she was, and she could be serious without compromising her values.

A light had returned to her eyes when she’d finally realized that. He still remembered the first day she’d come up with the idea. She’d been so excited that she came by his house at six in the morning, grasping a magazine in her hand, her blue eyes shining brightly. Mon-El couldn’t help wondering whether he’d fallen in love with her then. But even if that wasn’t the case, he remembered thinking just how beautiful and strong Kara could be when she was just being herself.

* * *

_Mon-El woke up with a loud knock on his door. His eyes flew open to a dark room. At first he thought he was dreaming. According to his bedside clock, it was only 6:17 a.m., and he didn’t think anyone would come visit him at this hour. And he’d already slept late the previous day, he so was not ready to wake up just yet._

Knock-knock.

_But of course, the moment he closed his eyes again, another knock interrupted his sleep. This time, he knew it wasn’t a dream too. It sounded way too real for that._

_He sighed as he pushed himself off of the bed. He felt like a zombie, dragging his feet to his front door, blinking to adjust his vision to the sudden change of positions and push away his sleeplessness. It…didn’t work, to say the least._

_He at least ran his hand over his face to seem more presentable before looking through the peephole. And… Well, he could honestly say that he didn’t expect to see Miss Kara Danvers smiling brightly at the door, a newspaper clasped in her hands._

_He blinked to make sure he didn’t mistake her for someone else…and nope. It was still her standing at his door, at 6 a.m., waiting for him to open. His sleeplessness forgotten, he desperately tried to smooth out his hair and clothes before he opened the door. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt so self-conscious of his appearance, but he didn’t want to seem disorganized or messy to Kara, who somehow always managed to look well put together. Even now it seemed like she had her makeup on and her hair was pulled into a tight braid, as if it wasn’t 6 a.m. and she’d been awake for hours._

_He hoped he looked good enough as he finally opened the door. “Kara? What are you—“ He didn’t even have the chance to ask that question, though, before Kara literally barged into his house._

_“I found my story!” she squealed happily. Mon-El blinked, his sleepless mind slow at catching up with her words._

_“You did what?”_

_“My story. I found what I want to write about.” She pulled Mon-El from his wrist to the kitchen island so that she could show him the article. He frowned as he looked at the newspaper, where her finger was pointing at…_

Sexual assault charges against famous Hollywood director Domenic Rayne were dropped due to a lack of evidence.

_He arched his brow. “Sexual assault?” Kara nodded quickly._

_“Yep. I’ve heard about it a couple of weeks ago, but… My boss didn’t let me write it, deeming it ‘too serious’ for a fun gossip magazine. That’s exactly what I need.”_

_“Kara—“ Mon-El started, ready to repeat all over again that she shouldn’t just follow a story because she thought it was serious, but she stopped him._

_“I know what you’re thinking, Mon-El, but I didn’t choose this story because it was serious.” Mon-El stared at her with disbelief in her eyes. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Fine, okay, I didn’t choose this story_ just because _it was serious. This… This is something that I actually feel passionate about. That’s not to say all those other issues aren’t important, but…this is the issue I want to tackle. I’ve been on the receiving end of objectification of men in the beginning of my career, just because I was blonde and beautiful. Even that felt horrible for me, so I can’t imagine how horrible it must be for the women that Rayne assaulted. I just… If I can do anything to change this, I want to try.” She lifted her head to look at Mon-El, only to see him smiling at her. Probably the first smile he offered that was truly genuine. She lifted her brow. “What?”_

_“Nothing. I’m just…impressed. Proud.” And wasn’t that true? Kara… He’d always thought she was beautiful, but when she was passionate and excited about something, when her eyes were shining and she was smiling, she looked absolutely stunning, as she did right now. Moreover, he was also so proud of her for not compromising herself for James, for sticking to her guns and opting to impress him with who she was. If James didn’t want that… Well, it would be his loss. “You know, I really thought you’d lose yourself while trying to win back James,” he admitted with a shrug. Kara nodded sheepishly._

_“You… You weren’t so wrong about that. I was so focused on him that I didn’t realize he was only getting in my way of…of this. And… Well, you probably already guessed that, but I couldn’t sleep thinking that. I wanted to…to feel like myself again.” She had a confidence in the blue of her eyes as she looked at Mon-El. “I just had to realize that being serious didn’t mean you have to wear black suits, or keep a straight face 24/7, or care about every single issue in the world. Being serious means…being yourself. Doing the things you’re passionate about.”_

_“Well,” Mon-El said, feeling something flutter in his chest. He promptly ignored it and instead leaned on the kitchen island. He so didn’t need feelings right now. “Took you long enough to realize that.”_

_“Hey!”_

_“And also, you owe me two hours of sleep._ Just saying.”

_“I was just excited, you butthead,” Kara retorted, punching him on the arm. “Don’t ruin my excitement.”_

_“Okay,” Mon-El said, lifting his hands innocently. “Okay, fine. I’m zipping my mouth.” He reached for the newspaper instead, his eyes glossing over the story of Domenic Rayne. “Anyway, now that I’m awake… Why don’t we start working on this story?”_

_Kara’s smile was bright enough to light up the whole room._

* * *

“Here with us is the blogger herself that wrote the article about Domenic Rayne leading to his arrest. Miss Kara Danvers.” Mon-El slipped away from his thoughts when he heard Kara’s name, his eyes glued to the TV. And…and there she was. She was standing next to the BBC reporter, with a huge smile on her face, wearing her signature pink jacket. A smile pulled his lips. He knew James would say all that pink turned her into one big blonde joke, but Mon-El knew better. And for Mon-El, that pink jacket only showed just how confident in herself she was. She didn’t need to change to show that.

She didn’t need to change for anyone to see the smart glint in her eyes, the passionate smile on her lips, and the kind understanding on her face.

“Miss Danvers, what made you pursue this story in the first place?” the BBC reporter asked, extending the microphone to Kara. A small laugh escaped the blonde’s lips, a laugh that made Mon-El’s chest flutter. She was so beautiful. Not in the objective, fashion-model kind of way, but in the I’m-comfortable-in-my-skin-and-I-don’t-want-to-change way. Not that she wasn’t also as beautiful as a fashion model, but Mon-El found her the most stunning when she was smiling and laughing and talking without a care about what anyone might think of her.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I could. When I started writing this, I was working for _Celebrity Weekly,_ and… Well, let’s just say this was a tad too serious for the magazine. But I’d already known about what was going on with Domenic Rayne, and, you know, it was the kind of story that doesn’t let you go.”

“Was it risky to take up this story and go with it?”

“Oh yeah,” Kara admitted, and…Mon-El knew how true that was. If their boss caught the scent of what they’d been doing, they could easily be fired. They had to spend every bit of free time they had on this story while also continuing their job and trying to relax every now and then, and it’d been tiring. Running around all day, coming up with empty evidence, hearing what Domenic Rayne did to all those actresses without being able to do anything about it… It had drained Kara, until one day the tide suddenly changed. The day Kara took it upon her to nail the man himself, no matter how much Mon-El objected—

“But some risks are worth to take. Someone once taught me that…that I needed to be true to myself, no matter what I was going through or how heavy the world became. I wouldn’t be following my heart if I dropped this.” She smiled at the camera, so much so that Mon-El wondered briefly whether she knew he was watching. He couldn’t help smiling at her, even though it felt like a broken smile.

“It wasn’t me, Kara,” he whispered with a shake of his head. “I was just there for you. You did this all yourself.”

He truly hoped that she knew it.

“What made this story so special for you?” the BBC reporter asked, taking Kara out of her thoughts. For the first time, the smile on her face slipped off to leave its place to a serious look. She huffed out a breath before she answered.

“In the first couple of years of my employment, I was subjected to the objectification of my male coworkers. Just because I was blonde and relatively thin, people saw me as a stupid girl sleeping her way to her work, and I had to try twice as hard as someone else to be taken seriously. I was fortunate to be able to protect myself against sexual assault, but…not everyone had been as lucky as me. I can’t imagine how bad it must’ve been for the women who worked for Domenic Rayne. I had to do something about it.”

* * *

_Kara’s shoulders were tight as she walked to the car, Mon-El could see. So…it seemed like this interview didn’t go well either. They’d been sure,_ so _sure that people would come forward to accuse Domenic Rayne of what he did, so sure that they’d have a solid article backed with hard evidence, yet… Nothing. So far, there was nothing. No actress or employee who worked with or for Rayne agreed to come forward about what happened. Honestly…that shouldn’t be surprising. Rayne was a very successful director, and for someone to come forward against him could possibly end their career. No one wanted that to happen to them._

_That didn’t mean Mon-El didn’t feel horrible every time they failed, especially when he saw Kara’s shoulders slump more and more after every interview._

_She had the same disappointed look on her face as she opened the car door to slip in the car. She’d interviewed her latest potential witness, and it seemed like this one had stayed quiet too._

_“No go?” he asked softly, not wanting to fire her up. He’d expected her to sigh with frustration and rant about how staying silent only perpetuated sexual abuse, but instead, her lips tightened. She tucked her hair behind her ear before she answered._

_“No, she talked,” she answered, fiddling with her seatbelt. “She told me everything that happened with Rayne.” Mon-El blinked with surprise._

_“Kara, that’s…that’s amazing,” he said. Finally,_ finally _they were making some progress, finally they had_ something _in their hands. He’d expected that Kara would be happy too…but on the contrary, she glared at him with a disappointed look. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I mean… I mean not for her, obviously, but… This means we have something, right? I thought you’d be happy about that.” Had he gotten this wrong?_

_“We don’t have anything, Mon-El,” she explained, pinching the bridge of her nose. He arched his brow. “She refused to tell me unless I promised her that I wouldn’t write about it.”_

_“But that means—“_

_“We have nothing. I know.” She ran her fingers through her hair, untying it in the process. “Believe me, Mon-El, I know that_ very damn well.” _She rested her head on the back of the car seat and closed her eyes, as if trying to calm herself down. Her glasses had slipped down her nose in her worry, close to falling down. He still remembered the first day he saw her in glasses, at 7 a.m. in the morning when they met at her house to go over the news about Domenic Rayne. Mon-El didn’t even know that she needed them until then, or that she used contact lenses almost every day._ Glasses don’t look good on me, _she’d confessed, adjusting them…and he honestly had no idea what she was talking about, because she looked so damn adorable in them._

_He didn’t forget to tell her that, too._

_And he was proud that she started wearing her glasses more frequently after that._

_But no, his heart definitely didn’t stutter every time he thought about that. Nope. He’d gotten into this business to help Kara get back together with James. Falling for Kara would be the stupidest thing he’d done in his entire life at this point, and he’d done a lot of stupid things._

_He slipped away from his thoughts to focus on the matter at hand. Knitting his brows, he tried to think about the general rules of publishing a story. He knew that if Kara officially signed a non-disclosure agreement, she could go to jail for publishing the story. But if she didn’t… She could technically write it without getting into legal trouble. He knew it was horrible to even think about revealing someone’s personal experiences like that, but this was bigger than one woman. If that article could prevent Domenic Rayne from assaulting another woman, they should do it, right?_

_“Kara, did she…did she ask you to sign a non-disclosure agreement?” Kara’s eyes flew open to look at him with that question._

_“No,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Why do you ask?” He huffed out a breath, trying to gather together his thoughts into proper words._

_“I was just thinking… If you didn’t, you could publish your story without getting into legal trouble. She can’t sue you for revealing her…her story.” The car went silent after his suggestion for a couple of seconds as Kara blinked._

_“So you suggest,” she started slowly, “that I break her trust by writing that article, even though I promised that I wouldn’t?”_

_Well, now that made him feel like an asshole. He shook his head immediately. “No, I don’t… I don’t mean that. I was just thinking… Her story could prevent Domenic Rayne from doing this again. It could put him in jail. At the end, wasn’t that what you were trying to do?” Kara’s blue eyes were shining fiercely as she straightened up her shoulders, more fire in her than he’d seen before._

_“Yes, but not by hurting someone. Look, this…this woman… She’d already been through hell. I’m not putting her under even more pressure.”_

_“It could potentially save another woman,” he argued. “It could… It could make you look_ serious.” _He regretted saying that the moment those words came out of his mouth, but…if Kara was still doing this for James, this was her moment. Why wasn’t she taking it?_

_Her face was cold as ice as she opened her mouth. “I’m not the same naïve blonde that James dumped, Mon-El,” she said quietly, calmly, which was almost scarier than yelling. “And I’m not jeopardizing anyone’s trust with this article. I’m gonna do this the right way, even if that means I’ll have to walk through hell and back to get proper evidence.” She pushed open the car door before he could object. “I thought you knew that. I thought you knew that I’d changed.”_

_And then she was out of the car onto the street, walking away from Mon-El._

* * *

Mon-El’s fingers were hovering over the screen as he stared at Kara’s name. He wanted to text her after watching her interview, tell her just how much of a kick-ass she was. She always amazed him with her confidence and wits, yet he didn’t remember a time he’d been so proud of her. And he wanted to tell her that. He wanted to tell her just how amazing she was…

Yet the words weren’t coming out. He’d already deleted three potential texts. But could anyone really blame him? He wasn’t good with words, not like Kara was. He was the photographer. Kara… Kara poured the story into words and polished it into something brilliant—something first-page worthy. She’d manage to write a perfect message if the roles were reversed.

_I watched your interview. You were brilliant out there, Kara._

He deleted that message immediately, too, cursing at himself for his inability to come up with _anything._ He stared at his phone for too long that one would think the answer was lying there.

Pro tip: it wasn’t.

He was just about to give up when his fingers flew on the keyboard almost involuntarily. He didn’t even think about the words before writing them, and he didn’t realize what he was trying to say before he saw the whole text.

_I love you, Kara. I know you’re probably with James now, and if that’s what you want I’m happy for you, but I thought you should know that you’re the most brilliant woman I’d ever met. You deserve the best in the world._

He stared at the message for a couple of seconds, silent tears filling his eyes, before he deleted it. The text he actually managed to send to Kara afterwards was nothing more than a dry congratulations.

_Your interview was amazing. Congrats._

* * *

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

_The words circled around Mon-El’s mind as he made a coffee, wanting to shake off his sleeplessness and the throbbing in his head. As it turned out, crying yourself to sleep didn’t help you with exhaustion._

_He’d never cried himself to sleep before. He’d never met anyone that made him cry himself to sleep. Until Kara. Kara Danvers, who swooped into his life very unexpectedly and turned it upside down._

How could I have been so stupid?

_He still remembered what she told him._ I thought you knew that. I thought you knew that I’d changed _. Her voice shook while saying that, no matter how much she tried to hide it with confidence. She was heartbroken—but of course. She’d leaned onto him in this process, she’d trusted him, and he basically implied that he believed she only wanted to catch Domenic Rayne to prove to James that she was serious. She thought Mon-El had seen him more than the stupid blonde that James apparently believed she was, and he’d proved her wrong in the worst way possible. He wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t want to see him again._

_It hurt more than he could’ve imagined. But the worst part was that he_ knew, _with all of his heart, that Kara’s intentions about this article had changed. In the last couple of weeks, Kara hadn’t once mentioned James’s name. Her focus wasn’t on impressing her ex-boyfriend, it was on catching Domenic Rayne and preventing his sexual assault spree. He’d known that—he was proud of her for that—yet he stupidly went and said publishing that article would make her look_ serious.

_He’d been so,_ so _stupid. And because of that, he’d probably lost Kara forever, and he had no one to blame but himself._

_He sighed, blinking the latest tears away as he focused on his coffee. He needed to wake up first, and then he could think of a way to apologize to Kara. It had to be something huge and heartfelt, something that showed just how sorry he was. Maybe dinner at a fancy restaurant? A brand new pink dress? A trip to her favorite place in National City? There had to be something—_

_His thoughts were interrupted with the knock on his door. He frowned as he looked up from his coffee machine. It was 7 a.m. on a Sunday, and in his entire life, there’d been only one person that interrupted him this early on weekends._

_His heart jumped in his chest as he rushed to the door, even though he didn’t want to get too hopeful. At the end, Kara hadn’t talked to him all through Friday and Saturday. Today might not be any different._

_Yet it really was Kara standing in front of him when he pulled the door open, feeling almost breathless. “Kara,” he managed to whisper, staring at the blonde, who yet again looked too properly put-together for a Sunday morning. She had her signature pink leather jacket on over a white shirt and jeans, her hair was pulled into a casual up-do, and her glasses were resting on top of her nose. She adjusted them and smiled shyly at him._

_“Hey. I didn’t wake you, right?” she asked softly—too softly, considering what he’d done to her. He could only shake his head, as his tongue was tied. He didn’t even know what to say as he stepped back to let her in._

_“Good,” she breathed, strolling into his house with her hands in her back pockets. “Because I…I needed to talk to you, and I couldn’t wait till later. It was… It_ is _important.” When she looked at him, Mon-El felt a knot lodging into his throat. Trying to speak over it was so hard that his voice came out barely as a cracked whisper._

_“I’m sorry.” He hoped that she understood what it was for, and he hoped that she could see, just from those two words, how truly sorry he was. Kara’s smile softened even more—as if that was possible._

_“You should be. What you said was really hurtful,” she admitted, crossing her arms over her chest. Mon-El felt a pang of pain in his heart, a string of apologies lining her throat, but she continued before he could say anything. “But I also know you didn’t mean what you said. Granted, it took me two days to realize that, but… I know that now. It was late at night, we were stressed, and…and we weren’t thinking properly. I understand that.”_

_“You…do?” Kara rolled her eyes and stepped forward to punch his shoulder._

_“Of course, you butthead. You were the one that saw beyond all the blonde to my mind. You, Mr. Matthews, made me believe that I could be more than a gossip magazine writer, that I could be more than the shallow girl James believed I was. I know that.” She grabbed his arms to make sure he was looking at her, offering him a genuine grin. “You’re forgiven, okay? Don’t eat yourself over it. Though I wouldn’t say no to another apology.”_

_A laugh escaped Mon-El’s lips at that, his first laugh in the last couple of days. He stepped forward to hug Kara, desperately blinking away his tears. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve never said that. I just…”_

_“Wanted me to write that article and put that son of a bitch Rayne down?” Kara suggested, pulling back. Mon-El nodded sheepishly, lifting his hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear._

_“You’ve been running around for weeks. I could see that you were tired, not only physically but emotionally, too. I just wanted you to be okay.” Kara pursed her lips with that, widening her eyes like a puppy’s._

_“Aw. That’s so cute.” Mon-El glared at her, yet she didn’t back down; instead, she straightened up even more. “What? It is.”_

_“Oh, shut up. I was just worried about you.”_

_“I know. And it’s so cute—hey!” She grabbed her shoulder when Mon-El punched it. “I was complimenting you.”_

_“Yeah, right,” he said, rolling his eyes, yet even then all the strain in his shoulders were gone. For the first time since his fight with Kara, he felt weightless. He felt…happy. Truly happy, like that dopey grin, butterflies in your stomach kind of happy. He didn’t want to think what that was about, yet that didn’t change his feelings._

_“But anyway,” Kara changed the topic anyway before he could elaborate on that. Even the change in her posture indicated that this was serious. “That isn’t the only thing I came here to say. There’s…something else.” Mon-El frowned at the tightness in her voice. “And it might require sitting down with two cups of coffee.”_

_That was exactly where they found themselves in a couple of minutes, on his couch, Kara taking small sips from her coffee as Mon-El waited for her to speak. “So,” she started slowly, her eyes focused on the black liquid. “I didn’t completely abandon our investigation in the last two days.”_

_Mon-El smiled at her, as fake as it felt. “Of course you didn’t.” Once Kara Danvers put her mind to something, she did it. The blonde flashed her a smile before she continued._

_“And I was thinking about what you said. About getting Rayne arrested. We need solid evidence to do that, and I…I think I know how to do that.”_

_“Oh?” Mon-El said, even though something in her voice made him apprehensive about the whole thing. He was 99% sure he wouldn’t like what she’d offer._

_“I went to see Rayne myself, and I managed to get him to ask me on a date…for tonight.” It took Mon-El a split second to realize what she meant._

_He didn’t even hesitate as the word left his mouth. “No.” His heart was hammering in his chest as he leaned forward on the couch to look at her properly. His hands were shaking so much that he had to put his coffee aside as to not spill it. “Kara,_ no. _No. Absolutely no.”_

_“Mon-El—“ she tried to interrupt him, but he didn’t let her._

_“You’re not_ doing _this,” he said with a shaky voice. What had she been thinking when she agreed to this? What was she thinking now? Was she really…really going to put herself under…under that man’s hands… Let herself get_ assaulted _to…to… “You’re not going on a damn_ date _with him.”_

_“Mon-El, just listen to me for a second—“_

_“You’re talking about him assaulting_ you _,” he hissed, feeling tears prickling his eyes as his chest churned with fear. Even the thought of that despicable man touching Kara was enough to make him sick that he would’ve probably thrown up if he had eaten anything. “Kara, you’re talking about him…him hurting you. You can’t… I’m not… Please…” He didn’t even know the proper words to say to stop her from doing this. He barely felt her scoot forward before her hands fell on her knees._

_“This is the only way, Mon-El,” she whispered, shaking her head. “Maybe… Maybe if it happens to me… If I come forward with my story… Others will come forward, too. Maybe then we’ll put Rayne in prison for good.”_

_Mon-El shook his head again, his throat knotted, and grabbed her hands. There was no denying what he felt then. He loved Kara. More than as a colleague, more than as a friend, he…loved her. The thought of her getting hurt wouldn’t have terrified him this much if that hadn’t been the case. He loved her, and she…she was going to…_

_“This is just a story, Kara,” he begged as a last resort. He didn’t even realize that tears had spilled down his eyes until Kara cupped his cheeks and wiped them away. “You don’t need to put yourself at risk for it. It’s not worth it. Please. It’s not worth it.”_ I love you. I love you. Please don’t do this to yourself. Please.

_“You know it’s not just a story, Mon-El,” she mumbled, “and I’m not talking about James. I’m talking about all those women Rayne he hurt. If I can stop this—“_

_“By getting_ yourself _hurt?” Mon-El exploded, not being able to help himself. Even though Kara winced, she didn’t back down, presumably knowing his anger was only coming from his care for her. “By putting_ yourself _in danger? This isn’t the right way, Kara. We have to find another way.”_

_“This is the only way—“_

_“Then we’re not doing this!” He ran his fingers through his hair furiously, trying to put a leash on his emotions. “I’m not letting you get hurt for a damn story. I won’t. We’re not doing this. We’re…”_

_He had to stop when he felt Kara’s hands cupping his cheeks again, her fingers lightly brushing his hair. “I’ll be okay,” she promised him, as if_ anything _about her plan was okay. He shook his head, but she didn’t let him talk. “I can protect myself. I won’t let him hurt me any more than what we need to press for assault charges.”_

_“That doesn’t make any of this better,” he objected, albeit weakly. He felt weak, so weak. And he wanted to give up. For the first time in his life, he wanted to give up on a story, he wanted to give up on everything if that meant Kara wouldn’t be going through with this. He’d gladly live on the streets without a job if she would just give up on this plan. “Please, Kara…”_

_“I need you,” she said, though, ignoring his pleas. “I need you to be there to film everything. I need you to get evidence. I can handle myself with Rayne, but I need you there to be a witness, Mon-El. Please.” She squeezed his arms, widening her eyes with her own pleas._

_But he couldn’t. He couldn’t watch her get hurt. He wanted to believe that he was strong—and in many cases, he was. He’d put himself into unimaginable risks for some of the photos he’d taken for the newspaper. But this…this was his weak spot. Kara was his weak spot. It’d kill him. Watching her get hurt… Watching her get assaulted without being able to do anything about it… He’d die._

_“Please don’t ask me to do this,” he begged as a last attempt. “Please don’t ask me to watch him…do that…to you.” He couldn’t even voice it at this point. He pressed his lips together to keep himself from throwing up._

_Kara smiled at him, her hand traveling up his arm to his cheek. “You know, one reason I was drawn to you when I needed help with this was because I knew how protective you were over your friends.”_ You are more than my friend, Kara. _“I knew you’d protect me, not just physically but emotionally, too, even from myself, if I needed it. And I know how hard this must be for you. But…I need to do this. Please understand that. This isn’t about proving I’m serious anymore; I couldn’t care less if people saw me as nothing but a blonde joke, if it meant I could protect others from sexual assault. So please… Please be there for me. Please help me do this. I need you to be there for me, and I need you to be strong for me.” She searched his eyes desperately. “There’s no one I trust more about this.”_

_“Kara…”_

_“Please, Mon-El,” she insisted one last time. “I need you. Please don’t leave me alone to do this.”_

_He searched her eyes briefly to realize the implied meaning of her words._ I’ll do it whether you’re there or not, but please be there. _And maybe that was why he nodded, because the thought of her being alone with Rayne was much worse than him seeing her with the director._

* * *

_Mon-El had never felt so tense in his life as he felt now, watching Kara with Rayne. He’d apparently rented a restaurant—_ a whole damn restaurant— _for them to spend some time together, and as if that hadn’t been enough, he was standing way too close to Kara on the terrace now, with a wine glass in his hand. It seemed like Kara hadn’t been drinking, though, as she’d promised, which was…which was as much as he could ask for._

_He shifted in his spot to get a better angle for a video, waiting for Rayne to make a move. He hated this. How Rayne was looking at her, as if he wanted to eat her up. How Kara answered his words with a light, flirty chuckle—although he couldn’t hear her, he knew her well enough to know she was chuckling. How she was forced to blush and flirt with him to get what she wanted._

_He wanted to throw his camera somewhere out of pure anger, but it would ruin all the trouble Kara went to set this up. No matter how much it would hurt to see her…to see her…_

_He still couldn’t wrap his mind around it._

You’re too good for this world, Kara Danvers, _he couldn’t help thinking._

_He saw Kara laugh again, another laugh that made his blood boil, before finally…finally he saw Rayne’s hand sneak up Kara’s back. He didn’t miss a second before pressing the record button on her camera._

_The smile on Kara’s face immediately disappeared. Mon-El’s stomach churned with sickness, even though he knew most of this was an act._ I’m gonna have to pretend like I’m really uncomfortable, _she’d told him as she prepared for the date._ I’m gonna have to be realistic, but I’ll be okay. Just don’t forget that. However hard it gets to watch it, it won’t be real.

_Hearing that, though, was far easier than actually witnessing it. He saw Kara trying to step back with a scared smile on her face, her arm moving forward to push Rayne away, but he didn’t let her. He grabbed her wrist and trapped her hand on the railing, wrapping his other arm around her waist._

_Mon-El wanted to close his eyes. He wanted to turn away, to not witness what was going on, but his eyes seemed to be glued there. And it wasn’t like he had to look. He’d set the camera down, it’d do its thing until Kara…until she did what she had to do. And yet… He was frozen. He was frozen, looking at that…that despicable man forcing himself on Kara, his one hand fumbling with the buttons of her shirt while his mouth claimed hers, and she could do nothing other than struggling in his hands._

It’s just an act, _he reminded himself. Kara had told him that she’d seem weak, that she’d look like she was struggling. It was an act…and yet it felt too real. And the desire to protect Kara, to punch Rayne in the face and tell him that he’d never touch anyone without their consent again, was too strong. He didn’t expect this to be so hard. He didn’t expect seeing Kara… It was too damn hard._

_He had to blink several times to get rid of his tears, just in time to see Rayne, rip open Kara’s shirt, enough to tear the buttons. Even from his position, he could see her bra. She seemed…so small in Rayne’s hands, so delicate, so innocent. She shouldn’t be going through that. Screw the article, screw everything. She should’ve never put herself in that position._

_He was just about to turn off the camera and rush to the restaurant when he saw Rayne stumble back. Kara must’ve pushed him back—he didn’t see how, as he was too distracted with his pounding heart and trembling hands. She quickly freed her hand from his grip and grabbed his wrist, twisting it in a way that made Mon-El wonder if she broke it or not. Either way, Rayne had released her, and he was now on his knees, his expression twisted with pain. Kara whispered something to him—something vicious, Mon-El couldn’t help hoping—before she pushed him to the ground._

_She didn’t miss any time after that before she grabbed her purse and left the terrace._

_Mon-El’s every movement was shaky as he shut the camera and packed up his equipment._ Kara is okay, _he reminded himself. God, she was more than okay. That was… That was incredible. Of course she’d told him she could protect herself, multiple times, but he still couldn’t help feeling worried about her. One slip up, one mistake could’ve caused…_

_No, she was fine. She was fine, and that was all that mattered._

_Mon-El threw his backpack around his shoulders before he made his way from his spot down to the street, wanting to see Kara for himself to make sure…to make sure he didn’t hallucinate what just happened. To make sure she was truly fine. Well, as fine as she could be after…after…_

You should’ve never agreed to this, _he couldn’t help thinking._ You should’ve said no. You should’ve stopped her.

_His eyes watered again at the thought of Kara, hurt and crying in the middle of the night, having woken up from a nightmare because of Rayne. Because of what she was forced to endure. He should’ve never agreed. He should’ve stopped her, he should’ve—_

_“Mon-El.” Kara’s soft voice took him out of her thoughts, and he realized that he was in the middle of the street only then, with Kara standing in front of him, trying desperately to hold her shirt in place._

_“Kara,” he whispered, his eyes traveling on her frantically. He wanted to hold her, he even lifted his hands to do so, but he stopped himself. She’d just had Rayne force himself on her. Having someone else touch her like that…_

_He flinched visibly, and instead opted to take off his jacket and wrap it around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry.” He shook his head, blinking to get rid of his tears._

_“Mon-El…”_

_“I’m sorry. I should’ve never. I’m—“ His hand accidentally brushed her bare arm as he tried to adjust her jacket, and he pulled it back as if it was electrocuted. He shouldn’t—_

_“Mon-El,” Kara said, more strongly this time, as she took his hands into hers and put them on her neck. He didn’t even realize he was shivering until she grabbed his arms to steady him. God, she was the one that was…assaulted, and here he was having a breakdown when he was supposed to be comforting her. “I’m okay. I’m fine. And I’m not afraid of your touch.” She rubbed his arms to prove her point and offered him a small smile. She seemed paler than usual, he had to admit, and the light in her eyes seemed diminished, but other than that…she didn’t seem broken. She was shaken, yes—duh—and there were still traces of fear and desperation in her body, but other than that…she was okay. She would get through this._

_“Come here,” Kara said and pulled him into her arms. He hugged her back almost immediately, not being able to stop his tears from sliding down his cheeks. He tried so hard to keep himself together, but it was…it was impossible._

_“You know what got me through the date with Rayne?” she whispered a couple of seconds later, taking him out of her thoughts. He pulled back to look at her, confusion shining in his eyes. Kara, though… She was just smiling sweetly as she stroked his cheek to wipe away his tear. The gesture was so sweet that he couldn’t help shivering—though that might’ve been about the fact that it was Kara Danvers, the girl he so desperately loved. “It was you, Mon-El,” she continued, taking him by surprise._

_“Me?”_

_“Yeah. I knew you’d never let me get hurt. I knew that if things got too far, you’d be there to save me, even if I couldn’t fight back myself. Thank you.”_

_“I didn’t do anything,” he wanted to argue. “I couldn’t even—“_

_“You were there for me. That was all I needed,” Kara stopped him before he could get far, fixing her gaze on him to make sure that he knew that. He searched her gaze to make sure she was being honest, that he didn’t completely fail her, before he nodded. Slowly, but that was all he could muster at this point. When the memory of Rayne and her was still too fresh in his mind._

_Kara offered him an encouraging smile before jokingly hitting him on the shoulder. “And I’m also hoping you got that video, because otherwise, I might consider taking back everything I said about your all-around amazingness.”_

_A laugh burst out of Mon-El’s lips, even though he knew her words were meant as a distraction from the heaviness of the situation. He nodded. “Yeah. Everything’s in here.” He patted his backpack. “We have everything we need to nail that son of a bitch.”_

_A light returned to Kara’s eyes with those words. She was confident when she straightened up her shoulders and said, “Then let’s do it.”_

* * *

And nailed it they did, didn’t they? Once the victims heard of Kara’s story, once they heard how bravely she shared it with them, they came forward, too. In a matter of days, they’d gotten the amount of testimony they couldn’t get in the weeks they’d been investigating the case. And Kara, as bravely as ever, posted her badass article on her online blog, complete with enough evidence to make a hard case against Domenic Rayne.

The article was clicked more than one hundred thousand times on the first day.

Domenic Rayne was arrested promptly after that, and no more than a day later Kara got a job offer to be a reporter from CatCo. She hadn’t told Mon-El that she even applied for it—she said she didn’t want to disappoint him if she didn’t get the job, even though at that point she could never disappoint him anyway—but Mon-El didn’t even hold it against her, as she’d been flying high the whole week. He could see that in her celebratory party, just how happy she was.

And now that James asked to get back together as well… She probably had everything she wanted. He was just… He’d never been a part of that, had he?

He sighed and threw his phone on the coffee table. He couldn’t think like that. Kara was his friend—best friend, he’d even dare say. Of course he was a part of her life, and she wouldn’t just throw away her friend for the sake of a boyfriend. They’d still see each other, hang out together, and be friends. It wasn’t like everything ended here.

Then why did it feel like it did?

Before he could ponder on that overly depressive line of thought, though, his doorbell rang. He didn’t even have it in him to stand up and open the door, so instead, he hoped whoever it was would leave if he stayed quiet.

Yet he could only savor a couple seconds of silence before the doorbell rang again, more persistently this time, followed by a knock. Damn it. He pushed himself reluctantly off of the couch, almost knocking over the coffee cup on the table, before making his way to the door. “I’m coming, I’m—“

His words were cut in half when he pulled open the door and came face-to-face with the one person he didn’t expect to see that day. “Kara?”

Kara’s brows were arched as she threw her hands in the air, not even bothering with a greeting. “Well, there you are! And I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.” And then she was walking into his apartment in a flurry of pink and blonde before he could open his mouth. He barely had time to close the door before she spun around to face him and continued. “I thought we’d be hanging out after my little celebration, but when I got out you were nowhere to be seen. And not to mention the reporter-palooza I had to jostle through looking for you. You owe me thirty minutes I wasted there.” She crossed her arms, her eyes boring into his. He was too shocked to answer, to even think anything; he only watched as her shoulders slumped and she dropped her arms to her sides. “I thought we’d go somewhere together. Just us, you know. This isn’t just my victory; I couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

Mon-El felt something flutter in his chest. _Just us,_ she’d said. _Like a date._ Granted, there’d been a lot of times they went out together, just them, but somehow…after everything…this felt different. When his feelings were at the forefront of his mind, he couldn’t help interpreting everything differently than he would’ve before.

He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind and shook his head. “Yeah, I… I was a bit tired, you know. It was a…tiring…day. And I thought you’d, um, want to spend some alone time with _James_ , now that…” He couldn’t continue when his stomach churned painfully. _Now that you’re together._ He couldn’t even look at Kara—though if he did, he wouldn’t see the ecstatic look that he expected. He would see a baffled Kara with her brows knitted and her lips pulled into a tight line.

“James?” she asked, taking him out of his thoughts. “What do you mean?” Mon-El felt a hopeful skip in his heart as he looked up. Kara sounded so nonchalant, her voice so devoid of…everything. As if she didn’t even care anymore. Sure, she rarely brought up James lately in their conversations, but the reason she started this mission of being serious was to get James back. It would be too much of a wishful thinking to hope it changed, that she changed her mind and realized how much of a jerk James was.

He searched her face briefly, seeing the surprise in her eyes, before he cleared his throat. “Didn’t he… Didn’t he want to get back together?” he couldn’t help asking. _We do belong together._ He still remembered James’s words. The words Kara waited to hear for so long. And now that James wanted her back…

Kara seemed almost confused as she ran her fingers through her hair. “I mean, yes, he did, but—“ she started slowly, as if she was trying to pull her thoughts together, before her gaze snapped up. There was a mysterious look in her eyes that Mon-El couldn’t quite decipher, until a laugh burst out of her. A soft, disbelieving laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. He felt his heart crack. So he’d been right all along. Kara really did get back together with James.

“He didn’t just ask me to get back together,” Kara quipped, excitement tinting her voice. “He proposed!”

Mon-El wondered whether Kara could hear the shattering of his heart. He hoped not, because the last thing he wanted was for her to feel bad about her feelings, but…he felt it so substantially that it couldn’t not be real.

“I couldn’t believe it at first,” Kara started ranting as he fixed his gaze on the floor to pull himself together. “I mean, I’ve been waiting for this for so long, and to have him in front of me, on one knee, was just a dream come true. I was beginning to think writing that article about Domenic Rayne was a lost cause, that James would never see that I’m serious, but it actually worked. And now…now we’ll be married, we’ll have at least three kids, and I’ll be that perfect stay-at-home mom James always talked about, doing the cleaning and taking care of the kids and making him content and happy.”

“Congratu—“ Mon-El was just saying as her words caught up with him. He looked up at her immediately. Did she just say that…that she’d be a stay-at-home mom? Kara Danvers? And she’d spend his life making James… “Wait, what?” It was impossible. The Kara she knew… She was strong, and confident, and independent. She’d never agree to—

The glare she sent his way was almost an answer enough. “Mon-El, did you _really_ think I’d get back together with James after _everything_ I’ve been through?” Mon-El blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, that Kara was really saying…

“You said no?” Kara rolled her eyes as she stepped forward.

“Duh, you butthead. He wasn’t the one for me. He never saw me anything more than a stupid blonde joke. I should’ve realized that before, though… Maybe I’m glad that I haven’t, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t have that reporting job at CatCo, and I…” She took another step; she was so close to Mon-El now that he could almost feel her warmth. She smiled up at him. “I wouldn’t be standing here right now, in front of the one man who believed I could be more than what people saw me as. Who thought I was serious even before I believed it. Who made me see that I didn’t need to change to become better, I just needed to embrace who I was.” She lifted her hands and put them on Mon-El’s chest, giggling when she felt his thundering heart. He couldn’t even move as he stared at her, afraid that he’d ruin the dream. This had to be a dream, right? Girls like Kara never liked guys like him. He wasn’t nearly as hot or well-dressed or “serious” as James. He was the nerdy best friend that every girl looked for, not the stunning boyfriend. Kara couldn’t possibly…

Yet when she put her hands on his cheeks, they felt too real to be a dream. She smiled, slowly at first, a part of him still afraid of losing his happiness, but when Kara didn’t disappear into thin air his smile widened. “I love you, Mon-El Matthews,” Kara whispered, running her fingers lightly through his hair.

Mon-El’s eyes fluttered close when he felt Kara reach up and press her lips on his. Months. He’d been wanting this for months, just…just too afraid to voice it, to even admit it to himself, afraid that Kara would just get back together with James and he’d lose her. He only now realized just how stupid that was. It was Kara that once told him she’d changed, that she wasn’t the same girl that was pining after James. She’d become confident, independent…happy. Truly happy, not just with everything around her but with herself too. She was comfortable with herself. He remembered how she dressed before this whole mess with James happened. She was always put-together, in her best clothes, with makeup on and high-heels around her feet. She never forgot her contact lenses or never pulled her hair into a simple ponytail. Recently, though… She went to work mostly in her glasses and with a messy bun, and even though the dress code required her to dress professionally, there were days she went with a simple pink blazer and black pants instead of her usual expensive skirts and shirts. The change had happened outside of work, too. The girl who’d been uncomfortable with being seen without even makeup on had hung out with Mon-El in sweats multiple times. She… She’d started to stop minding what people thought of her and instead decided to become herself, turning into the most stunning woman Mon-El had ever met. And it had nothing to do with her looks. It was about who she was inside, and how that light reflected outside.

He was smiling by the time Kara pulled back. He lifted his hand to brush her hair away from her face as she leaned her cheek to his palm. “You know,” he whispered, tugging her close to his chest. “I love you, too, Miss Kara Danvers.”


End file.
